Review by Shannon Shumaker
Filled with haunting electronic beats, soulful vocals and breathtaking harmonies, Lake Lady’s Better Day EP is smooth and easy to listen to, hitting hard without actually having to hit at all. Only five songs in length, Better Day gives us a glimpse of Lake Lady without becoming repetitive or predictable at all, while still solidifying a very unique sound from songstress, Charise Sowells.
“Will Your Feelings Change?” opens the EP with groovy bass work and a very nice blend of both warm and haunting feelings. Serving as a perfect opener and track to judge the rest of the EP from, “Will Your Feelings Change?” is very soothing and easy to listen to, but the bass work and beautiful vocal runs keep things interesting. The warmth in the track comes from the lyrics, which pose the question, “Will you love me/When my hair turns gray?”
Contrasting well with the beautiful opener is the hypnotic, “All Over This Town.” The vocals in this track are absolutely mesmerizing, with intricate and atmospheric instrumentals merely backing it up. And then, taking another step away from “All Over This Town” is “Be Still My Heart,” a warmer track, carried less by electronic instrumentals and more so by ukulele. While the vocals in this song still sound very soulful and hypnotic, like “All Over This Town,” it is much brighter instrumentally and lyrically.
Deep bass and guitar work bring in “Will He Ever Come?,” shaking things up a bit more from the first three tracks. Despite the big differences in the instrumentals and moods on these songs, though, they all flow very well together and stay fairly on the same level as they progress. While that would normally threaten to make the EP feel repetitive or boring, that is quickly remedied by the many different moods and sounds on Better Day.
Proving that point is “Better Day,” the warmest, poppiest song on the EP. Compared to the other four songs, this track is happy, loving and groovy. “Better Day” provides just a bit more versatility for the EP, leaving listeners lingering for more of this poppier side of Lake Lady by the time it comes to an end. While Better Day is just a snippet of what Lake Lady is capable of, it’s fulfilling, soothing and incredibly easy to listen to, promising that anything she touches will turn to gold.
Rating: 4.5/5
Listen to “Better Day” or “Will Your Feelings Change?”
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